Jesuit: Sexual abuse victims want to be heard by hierarchy

SYDNEY – The president of the Pontifical Gregorian University’s Center for Child Protection said most of the victims of clergy sexual abuse whom he has met primarily want the church hierarchy to listen to them and understand the depth of their suffering.

“All concur in this, that the most important single element in a possible healing process, is being really listened to ... all say this is the starting point, Jesuit Father Hans Zollner told The Catholic Weekly, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Sydney, during an interview in late August.

The priest was in Australia to attend a conference on clergy sexual abuse.

Father Zollner, who also is a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, also said the Catholic Church “can’t ever do enough” to address the problem of clergy sexual abuse.

He credited the church in Australia for its effort to respond to allegations of abuse and its steps to prevent abuse, pointing to the development of resources, training materials and the development of staff. In addition, he said the Australian Catholic Church’s acceptance of nearly all of the recommendations of the Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was a positive development.

Church leaders Aug. 31 accepted 98 percent of the commission’s suggestions, but said they could not agree with recommendations that would violate the seal of confession.

In recent years, the Australian church has had to contend with the fallout from criminal charges against two high-ranking church leaders regarding cases of clerical sexual abuse.

Cardinal George Pell, head of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy, is the most senior church official to face criminal charges in connection with child sexual abuse. He took a leave of absence from his position in summer 2017 to face charges of sexual abuse of minors from the 1970s, when he was a priest, and the 1990s, when he was archbishop of Melbourne.

Although Cardinal Pell consistently has denied the charges, in early May, an Australian magistrate ordered him to stand trial, saying she believed there was enough evidence presented in connection with about half the original charges to warrant a full trial.

In the second case, retired Archbishop Philip Wilson of Adelaide is serving one year of home detention after being found guilty in May of failing to report child sexual abuse allegations in the 1970s.

Father Zollner said few studies have been done to identify the prevalence of sexual abuse among Catholic clergy and those that exist have been undertaken in a handful of countries, including Australia and the United States.